Wrong Genre Savvy/Literature: Difference between revisions

*** It worked out well for him in ''[[Interesting Times]]''. At least, if your definition of "well" is [[Kicked Upstairs]] and never heard from again.

** The Palace Guards in ''[[Guards! Guards!]]'' also believe they're in a conventional heroic fantasy—two of them refuse to attack Captain Vimes on the grounds that [[Conservation of Ninjitsu|they outnumber him]] and he's unarmed, both indications that he's likely to do something heroic.

** In ''[[Unseen Academicals]]'', Glenda objects to her friend Juliet going out with Trev Likely because he's not [[Prince Charming]]. When she gets involved in a romance of her own, she wises up; while she thinks that these events don't happen in romances, she doesn't act as if it ought to be one.

* [[Miles Vorkosigan]] falls into this in the novel ''A Civil Campaign''. Throughout the series, he's a masterful [[Guile Hero]] who always succeeds through is cleverness, but then he attempts to apply his military strategy to wooing his love interest, despite all of his family and friends trying to warn him that this is a terrible idea. Sure enough, when he proposes, she feels emotionally manipulated and walks out on him.

* In [[John Hemry]]'s ''A Just Determination'', Jen warns Paul against this, because he's obviously read too many books about a [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

* In [[Dorothy L. Sayers]]'s ''Have His Carcase'', Harriet notes that in all the detective novels, the villain tells the victim to bring the letter with him, to ensure (from the villain's POV) that it's destroyed, and (from the author's POV) that it's not completely destroyed and right there for the hero to find. They conclude that the murderers must have said that because the books do — and it serves the same purpose, because they didn't realize why the authors did it.

* The ''[[Dragaera]]'' novel ''Athyra'' is told from the perspective of Savn, a [[Farm Boy|Teckla peasant]] training to be a "physicker". Savn is definitely aware of narrative conventions, as part of a physicker's job is knowing stories to tell patients to distract them from the pain of medical treatment. From Savn's perspective, Vlad is the stock fantasy mentor character, a mysterious and [[Eccentric Mentor|kind of strange]] character who shows up in the hero's backwater town and introduces them to adventure. Unfortunately for Savn, he's not a character in a straight [[Heroic Fantasy]]: he's in a [[Black and Gray Morality]] [[Dungeon Punk]] series, and Vlad's the protagonist, not him. Needless to say, Savn doesn't get a happy ending.

* Done hilariously in a short story from ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. Harry is trying to deal with [[Hilarity Ensues|a great deal of hilarity which is in the process of ensuing]] when a group of teenagers show up at his house in goth clothes and Slytherin scarves. Their leader informs Harry that he, Harry Dresden, has earned their wrath for removing a curse they put on some old lady and to prepare himself to suffer the consequences. Harry informs them he didn't even notice the curse and just did the exorcism to make her feel better, then [[Oh Crap|pulls a gun on them]].